The moon had risen over the treetops. It was the fifteenth of the lunar month, and the bright, clear moonlight bathed the An family’s small courtyard.

"An Ning, what time is it?"

An Sancheng, who had been quiet the whole time, finally spoke up. An Ning glanced at her watch. "8:47."

"Sigh—"

An Sancheng sighed and stood up, still feeling uneasy.

"Guoqing, let’s go meet your brother. He might be on his way back already."

"Alright!"

An Guoqing had been wanting to go for a while but hadn’t known where to search. He immediately agreed now that An Sancheng had spoken up.

"I’m going too."

An Ning stood up, meeting An Sancheng’s eyes directly.

"Alright. Grab a flashlight. Let’s go."

The three of them grabbed flashlights, and An Ning wheeled out her bicycle.

"Dad, I’ll take the bike. I’ll be faster that way."

An Sancheng gave her a worried look, but An Ning immediately said, "Dad, I’ve killed several wild boars before. I’ll be fine."

An Sancheng could only nod. "Alright. You go on ahead. Your big brother and I will be right behind you. If anything happens, just yell, you hear?"

"I know."

With a running start, An Ning pushed the bicycle forward, swung herself onto the seat, and quickly disappeared into the moonlight.

"Guoqing, let’s pick up the pace."

An Sancheng and An Guoqing walked faster and faster, eventually breaking into a run.

Back in the An family’s courtyard, only Lin Cuihua, her eldest daughter-in-law, and An Guoping remained.

Lin Cuihua’s right eyelid wouldn’t stop twitching, making her heart race with anxiety.

"Left eye for wealth, right eye for disaster... Why won’t my right eye stop twitching!"

Lin Cuihua grabbed Gao Guifen’s arm. "Guifen, find me a piece of white paper. I need to stick it on my eyelid."

"Okay, I’ll go get it right now."

As his sister-in-law, Gao Guifen, went to tear off a piece of paper, An Guoping said reassuringly, "Mom, it’s nothing. That’s just an old superstition. It doesn’t mean anything."

"Really?"

Lin Cuihua patted An Guoping’s arm. "You’re right, you’re right. I shouldn’t believe in it. Your second brother will definitely be fine."

Meanwhile, An Guoming, the one everyone was worried about, was in an alley being punched and kicked.

"Your schoolbag? Don’t you have a puddle to piss in so you can take a good look at yourself? You’re a poor, ragged bastard. Where would you get a schoolbag like this!"

"Let me tell you, these bags are sold at the supply co-op. Our boss got this stock personally from the bag factory in the county. We have the official papers for it. Do you?"

"Look, buddy, I’d advise you to learn your place. Don’t go thinking about things that aren’t yours."

In the dark alley, An Guoming was curled into a ball. His face was a mask of blood and grime, his body wracked with pain. He even had two broken ribs.

But he didn’t say a word.

He may not have read any books on military strategy, but he understood that trying to be a hero right now would be pointless.

At that moment, An Guoming wished he had the strength of his older brother or his little sister.

He swore that when he got back, he would start working out with his little sister.

"Let’s go."

The man who had been doing all the talking gave the order, and his underlings prepared to leave.

"Boss, this kid’s got a watch."

One of the sharp-eyed thugs spotted a watch hidden in An Guoming’s pocket; a small piece of the strap was sticking out.

"What? He has a watch? Hell, *I* don’t even have one of those."

The leader crouched down and reached for the watch in An Guoming’s pocket.

"Don’t—"

An Guoming cried out.

’His little sister had given it to him.’

"Well now, it really is a watch. You’ve got some hidden tricks, kid. Who would’ve thought."

In the man’s eyes, An Guoming’s protest was no different than a dog barking.

The man casually strapped the watch onto his own wrist, then crouched down and slapped An Guoming across the face.

"Nice watch. I’ll take it off your hands."

"Give it back."

Gritting his teeth, An Guoming tried to get up, even reaching out a hand.

"Give it back? You really don’t get the situation, do you?"

The man stood up and stomped his foot on An Guoming’s hand. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"AAAAARGH—"

An Guoming’s scream of agony was terrifyingly clear in the dark night, but not a single person came out to see what was happening.

"Go on, scream. Scream your lungs out. No one’s coming."

The man arrogantly kicked An Guoming again, this time in the face, leaving a clear shoeprint on his cheek.

"Listen, kid. Keep your mouth shut about what happened here. Otherwise, next time, we won’t be so gentle."

With a disdainful snort, the five men left the alley.

An Guoming, lying in the alley, no longer had the strength to even stand up.

He lay alone on the cold ground, staring up at the sliver of sky above. No one knew what was going through his mind.

By now, An Ning had reached town.

She had been using her spiritual power the whole way but found no trace of An Guoming.

Once she reached town, she expanded the range of her spiritual power and continued her search.

The RING-A-LING of a bicycle bell was particularly loud on the quiet street.

"Boss, there’s a chick up ahead."

"Another time. Let’s not cause any more trouble today."

The leader, who had just stolen An Guoming’s watch, raised his wrist to admire it.

As she rode her bicycle, An Ning’s extended spiritual power allowed her to easily overhear the five men’s conversation.

’They’re lucky they’re not trying anything,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, I’d make them regret it.’

But just as she was passing them, An Ning stopped.

"Where did you get that watch?"

Her words stopped all five men in their tracks.

"It’s my watch, of course."

The man in the lead raised an eyebrow at An Ning. But her eyes were glued to the watch, then flicked to the man’s clothes.

"You’re lying. I’ll ask you one last time: where did you get the watch?"

An Ning’s eyes were fixed on a fiber stuck to the watch face. It was a single blue fiber, from the cloth she and her second brother had bought at the textile mill—the cloth Lin Cuihua had used to make his clothes.

And yet, this man was wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt.

’It’s possible the watch is his,’ she thought, ’but I can’t take that chance.’

"Well, now. It’s the first time I’ve met such a feisty girl. ’One last time,’ huh? And what are you going to do if I don’t tell you?"

"Unless you’re planning on doing a little something... with us?"

"BWAHAHAHAHA!"

The men cackled with lewd laughter.

An Ning observed the men again. There were bloodstains on their hands, but not a single one of them was injured.

’Second Brother?’

"An Guoming."

An Ning said his name abruptly, and one of the thugs on the other side subconsciously blurted out, "You know An Guoming?"

That was all the confirmation An Ning needed.

She leaped off her bicycle and charged at the man with the watch.

Her hand shot out, clamping around the man’s throat. She then swiftly backed away, facing the other four men with their leader in her grip.

"Where is An Guoming?"

"You bitch, if I get my hands on— GACK— GURGLE—"

With one bare hand, An Ning lifted the leader clean off the ground by his neck.

The man began to struggle for breath, his feet leaving the ground to kick wildly in the air.

An Ning delivered a swift kick to the back of the man’s knees, and his legs went still.

"Where is An Guoming?"

"Speak. Or die."